


The Legend Begins

by Just2Protect



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, Homesteading Koganes, Implied Romances, M/M, Multi, Slightly canon compliant AU, Teens being teens, Voltron fix up fic, farm animals, more tags to be added as we go on, space adventures
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2020-05-02 05:08:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19192423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Just2Protect/pseuds/Just2Protect
Summary: In the year since Takashi Shirogane, Samuel and Matthew Holt went missing in space, a lot has happened to twins Keith and Keera Kogane. Keith got kicked out of the Galaxy Garrison, Keera has started having recurring dreams, and they've stumbled onto a mysterious cave talking about a giant god-cat. And now with Shiro's sudden return, claiming aliens are coming, the twins are about to be thrust in the middle of a 10,000-year-old war with the mystery of their family, the last hopes of a dying race and the fate of the universe in its twisted web.Keep an eye out for some stuff like discussing issues of potential controversy, such as issues in US History, strong language, mentions of sexual encounters, mentions of chronic illnesses and other stuff like that.





	The Legend Begins

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there! So this is going to be the very first chapter in my Voltron Fix-it fic. Please enjoy the reading!

"One would think that when spying on a government space exploration facility doubling as a school, I would hear more interesting things than this," a young woman muttered as she alternated her attention between the computer beside her and the notebook in front of her. Through the device, a number of different voices could be heard, mostly spouting off patrol routes being clear or not from security and instructors reporting on various cadets for records. All over the table was a collection of textbooks, dictionaries and encyclopedias.

She had shoulder-length black hair and deep violet eyes and was dressed in a red t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and mud-covered cowboy boots. A large German Shepherd lay on a nearby rug with a few young pups next to him while a female lay near a set of stairs blocked off by a baby gate.

The woman pinched the bridge of her nose as a young man came down the stairs, clamored over the baby gate and headed towards her. He had the same black hair and violet eyes but was dressed in a black pair of pants and a matching shirt that both gave the appearance he'd slept in them. The woman regarded him as he walked past her, grabbed an apple from the counter and sat down next to her.

"More research today?" he asked as he pulled a dual-bladed knife from its sheath on his back and cut his food into pieces.

"Yup. You planning to go out tonight?"

"No. I'm thinking of catching up on some sleep, or maybe I'll look through the animals like you've been pestering me for," he said with a yawn.

"I already did, selected and came up with a breeding schedule. So while I'm doing this could you check on the truck?"

"Sure." Keith eyed the computer. "Anything?"

"There was a meeting yesterday about upgrading mainframe security. Since then it's just been security and records as usual. The only thing of interest today was that you actually came up."

"I did?"

"Yea. But it was weird. Iverson, I think, was talking to some cadets in a simulator. The pilot crashed and the team was arguing the whole time. Iverson brought up Kerberos and one cadet objected to the crew being dead. Then another cadet defended the first and Iverson brought you up, saying not to follow in your footsteps."

"Were you able to get anything on either cadet?"

"Nope. Just audio." Keera began typing on the computer, bringing up an audio file. "Do these sound familiar?"

_ "-mission!" _

_ "That's not true sir!" _

_ "What did you say?" _

_ "Sorry sir, I think he might've hit his head when he fell out of his chair. But point taken." _

_ "I don't need to remind you, that the only reason you're here is because the best pilot in your class had a discipline issue and flunked out. Don't follow in his footsteps."  _ Keera stopped the file and looked at Keith, who merely shrugged.

"That's definitely Iverson. The other two I don't remember hearing. Ever."

"Figured it was a long shot."

An alarm began to blare on the computer and immediately the two were focused on the device again.

_ "Attention students! This is not a drill! Security situation Zulu-Niner! Repeat! All students are to remain in barracks until further notice!" _

Keith leapt to his feet and looked out the window, catching sight of a ball of fire streaking down towards Earth.

"It's happening," he reported as he grabbed a red jacket from the counter and slipped it on. Keera began cleaning up the mess of books on the table.

"I'll be here ready when you get back. Just don't do something stupid. Please?" The door shut behind Keith before Keera could get a response. She shrugged and rolled her eyes as she stuffed the study materials into a cupboard. The female dog followed at her heels as she moved about the house.

*The Legend Begins*

"Lights out in five! Everyone back to their dorms! Now!" Iverson barked as he marched through the halls. Immediately, students began moving towards their respective dorms, save for two that were hiding behind a corner Iverson had his back towards as he headed for his office. Both were male and had a bronze tone to their skin but aside from that they were complete opposites.

One was lanky and bone-thin, with brown, curly hair and bright blue eyes. The other had straight black hair, was rather large and kept biting his bottom lip as the thinner male checked the hall again. Both were dressed differently from the other students decked in orange, white and grey uniforms.

The lanky teenager wore a grey shirt with blue sleeves and shoulders, jeans, sneakers, a white hoodie and a green jacket with an orange stripe around each sleeve. The larger of the two wore sneakers, khaki cargo pants, a yellow shirt, a cargo vest and had an orange bandana tied around his forehead. At both their feet were large backpacks, each marked with a strip of cloth. The bag closer to the lanky teen had "McClain" stitched into the cloth and the other had "Garrett".

"We shouldn't do this," the larger of the two said as the lights went out in the halls.

"You heard Commander Iverson. We need to bond as a team. So we're gonna grab Pidge, hit the town, loosen up a bit, maybe meet some nice girls-"

"I'm just saying, for the record, that this is a bad idea," the yellow-clad teenager stated as the two slung on their backpacks and began sneaking through the halls.

"Hunk, for someone in a space exploration program, you don't have much of a sense of adventure," the curly-haired teen criticized.

"That's because, Lance, all of your little  _ adventures  _ wind up with me in the Commander's office," Hunk hissed. Light spilled out into the hall as they neared a lounge and Lance peeked into the room. It was filled with teachers and other faculty of the building. He quickly ducked down and started crawling over the floor. "Oh man," Hunk groaned as he followed his friend, being careful to avoid his backpack being seen.

The two continued their sneaking, around, deftly avoiding guards patrolling the halls. A door opened in the hallway ahead and both leapt around the corner, peering past it to see who it was. A small teenager brown eyes nearly hidden behind thin, round glasses and a head of brown hair cut in such a way that it could only be described accurately as a short self-cut. Some pieces stuck out at strange angles and others curled outwards. A rather large backpack was slung over the small shoulders that were absolutely dwarfed by the massive green-and-white sweater worn over a pair of knee-length khaki shorts filled with pockets.

The teen checked up and down the hall before hurrying on their way. Lance's eyebrow raised as he watched the teen.

"What are you up to Pidge?" he muttered.

*The Legend Begins*

“You come up here to rock out?” Lance asked as the other brunette jumped away from him and whirled away.

“Oh…Lance,” Pidge breathed heavily. “No just…watching the stars…” The half-shrug the younger of the trio gave only caused Lance to nod.

“Where’d you get all this stuff man? It doesn’t look like Garrison tech.” At that, Pidge’s face lit up with pride.

“I built it.”

“You built all this?” Hunk asked as he began poking at the devices, earning him a smack on the hand from Pidge.

“Ap! Stop it!” the smallest scolded before adjusting the glasses back to their proper place. “With this stuff I can scan at least to the edge of the solar system.”

“Is that right? All the way to Kerberos hm?” Lance asked. Pidge’s face half-hid itself in the high collar around the teenager’s neck. Hunk used that opportunity to slide back to the devices and poke at what looked to be a satellite dish. “You go ballistic every time the instructors bring it up! What’s your deal?”

“Second warning Hunk!” the glasses-wearing teen barked. Hunk let out a little whine as he pulled his hand away. Lance let out a huff at the clear attempt to ignore his question.

“Look Pidge, if we’re gonna bond as a team, we can’t be having any secrets,” the tallest teen prodded. Pidge let out a sigh before turning to glare at the other.

“Fine. The world as you know it is about to change. The Kerberos mission wasn’t lost because of some accident or crew mistake…” Pidge caught sight of Hunk’s finger nearing the equipment again. “Stop touching my equipment!” the smallest teen screeched. Hunk let out a defeated whimper as he flopped onto his side with a pout. Pidge took a deep breath before continuing. “So I’ve been scanning the system and picking up hints of alien radio chatter.” That had Hunk sitting upright and eyes going wide.

“Whoa wait what? Aliens?”

“Okay. So you’re insane. Got it,” Lance said with a roll of the eyes.

“I’m serious,” Pidge hissed, picking up a notebook of notes taken during the teen’s observations. “I only pick up bits and pieces but there’s definitely something like a satellite out there. It constantly mentions one subject: Voltron. And actually, tonight it’s been going crazier than I’ve ever heard it before.”

“How crazy?” Lance asked.

_ "Attention students! This is not a drill! Security situation Zulu-Niner! Repeat! All students are to remain in barracks until further notice!"  _ Iverson’s voice barked into the announcement system.

“What’s going on?” Hunk asked as he got to his feet. Pidge began packing away the equipment in a nearby backpack as a light appeared in the sky. “And is that a meteor?!” Hunk pointed upwards at the fireball coming down towards Earth. Pidge grabbed a pair of binoculars and looked upwards at it.

“It’s a ship!” Lance grabbed the binoculars, dragging their owner along with it as he held up the device to his face.

“Holy crow! I can’t believe what I’m seeing! That’s definitely not one of ours!”

“Yea,” Pidge hissed as the smaller brunette pulled the binoculars away and finished putting away the equipment. “It’s one of theirs.”

“So wait there really are aliens?” Hunk asked as the fireball crashed in the not-far-off hills. Teachers and other faculty loaded into desert rover cars and took off towards the landing site. Pidge’s backpack was slung onto the teen’s shoulders and Lance smirked at the other brunette.

“We gotta go see that ship!”

“Hunk come on!” Lance barked as the two ran towards the door leading back inside. The larger teen groaned loudly.

“This is the worst team-building exercise ever.”

*The Legend Begins*

The teens set up their own little camp of technology on the cliffs near where the Garrison rovers were parked, creating a perimeter around a dome. Medics in biohazard suits moved equipment inside while a couple rovers began hauling the massive ship away.

Lance looked through the binoculars at the dome.

“What the heck is all that shit?” he muttered as he noted the numerous crates being brought inside. A female officer stepped towards the dome and was stopped by a medic. Lance zoomed in on the woman. “And who the heck is she?”

“Lance,” Pidge groaned as the teen landed a hit on the other’s shoulder, earning a quiet cry of pain.

“Right, alien ship. Got it,” he sighed as he returned to looking at the dome. “There’s too many guards. We won’t get by them.”

“Aw man,” Hunk sighed. Lance resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “I guess there’s nothing to do but head back to the dorms, yeah?”

“Wait a second,” Pidge said as a grin spread over the teen’s lips. “They set up a camera in there and I just picked up it’s feed.” The two males crowded around the other to watch. The screen displayed a man dressed in a black bodysuit with a tattered purple shirt, strapped down to the table with a trio of officers around him as med techs set up equipment. The man wore a scowl on his face and his black hair was only discolored by a streak of white falling over his forehead.

“Hey! What are you doing?!” the man on the table demanded, fighting against the bonds holding him down.

“Calm down Shiro. We just need to keep you quarantined until we run some tests on you,” Iverson’s voice was clear to identify, although it was hard to identify which bio-hazard suit-wearing officer was speaking.

“Iverson! You have to listen to me! They destroy worlds! Aliens are coming!” Lance’s eyes widened.

“That’s Takashi Shirogane, the pilot of the Kerberos mission. That guy’s like, my hero.”

“Guess he’s not dead in space after all,” Hunk stated. Pidge shushed the two quickly.

“Do you know how long you’ve been gone?” Iverson asked. Shiro let out a growl.

“I don’t know. Months?! Years?! Look, there’s no time! Aliens are coming here for a weapon! They’re probably on their way and they will wipe us out! We have to find Voltron!”

“Voltron!” Pidge hissed, pointing at the screen.

“Sir, look at this.” One of the medics began prodding at Shiro’s right arm, drawing attention to the metal limb. The fingers clenched into a fist and Shiro pointedly looked away from it. “It appears his arm has been replaced with a cyborg prosthetic.”

“Put him under until we know what that thing can do,” Iverson ordered. Shiro’s eyes went wide and he began thrashing again.

"No! No don't put me under!" The medics paid no attention to Shiro's panicking before shoving a needle into his flesh and putting him under.

"The heck?" Lance breathed. "The guy's a legend and they're not even gonna bother listening to him?"

"We gotta get him out," Pidge declared.

"I hate to be the voice of reason, always," Hunk stated, standing up over the other two. "But weren't we just watching on the computer because there was no way to get past the guards?"

"That was before we had proper motivation," Lance said with a smirk before he crossed an arm over his chest to hold his opposite elbow and began tapping his finger on his chin thoughtfully. "Can we tunnel in?"

"Maybe we could grab some haz-mad suits and sneak in like med techs?" Pidge offered.

"Or we could dress up like cooks, head back to the dorms, sneak into the commissary…little late-night snack," Hunk offered with a smirk. Lance gave his friend a deadpan look.

"No. What we need is a distraction…"

As if on cue, a series of explosions shook the desert.

"What that the aliens?!" Hunk cried, ducking down before pulling Lance's arm over his head. "Was that the aliens? Are they here? They got here so quick!" Pidge yanked the binoculars from Lance's hand and looked down at the swarming Garrison dome.

"No, those  _ were _ a distraction alright. For him," the smallest teen said, pointing at a hoverbike slowly approaching the dome as the rovers moved all headed towards the explosions. "The Garrison's headed towards the blasts and he's sneaking in from the other side." Lance snatched the binoculars from Pidge and let out a growl at the sight of the dark-haired teen on the hoverbike.

"No way…Oh he is  _ not  _ beating us in there. That guy's always trying to one-up me!" Lance snarled before heading down the incline.

"Who is it?" Hunk called.

"Keith!"

"Who?" Pidge asked as the smaller brunette collected the equipment again.

"Are you sure?" Hunk hurried after his friend.

"Oh I'd recognize that mullet anywhere!"

"Who's Keith?!" Pidge called as the smallest followed the larger teens.

*The Legend Begins*

Keith tied a bandana around the bottom of his face before jumping over the rock he'd parked the hoverbike behind. He didn't waste time getting inside. The minute the inner doors opened, his eyes were assessing his surroundings. Three meds, some equipment set up, and his objective strapped to the table in the center of the whole thing.

Violet eyes narrowed as a smirk pulled over his lips as he recognized Commander Iverson under the haz-mad suit.

"Hey!" All three officers rushed at him and Keith made quick work of them before going to the man strapped onto the table. His steps faltered as he neared the table. Carefully, he grabbed the man's square jaw and turned his face towards himself.

"Shiro?" Keith breathed. His hand hovered in the air for a second before reaching back, pulling out his knife and slicing through the straps as easily as if he were cutting through butter. He sheathed the blade and pulled the man's arm over his shoulder before pulling him off the table. Shiro let out a groan as Keith struggled to hold the man's whole weight on his own.

"Nope! Nope. Nope, no, no, no, no, no," Keith looked up, ready to grab his knife again at the sound of people, only to be surprised to see the lanky teenager in the doorway marching right towards him. "No ya don't. I'm saving Shiro," the teen finished as he shoved the table out of the way so that he could pull Shiro's prosthetic arm over his shoulder.

"Who are you?!" Keith demanded, although he was somewhat grateful to the other teen for taking part of Shiro's weight.

"Who am I?! Uh, the name's Lance." Keith could only blink, waiting for…something. Apparently this kid expected his name to mean something or have some kind of reaction. "We were in the same class at the Garrison?"

"Really? You an engineer?" the dark-haired teen asked, trying to be conversational. Lance seemed to deflate some.

"No I'm a pilot. We were like rivals. You know? Lance and Keith, neck-and-neck?" Lance offered, trying to get Keith to remember. Keith sighed as recognition came over him.

"Oh yea, I remember you now. You're a cargo pilot." The lankier of the two glared at the other.

"Well, not anymore. I'm fighter-class thanks to you washing out!"

"Well, congratulations," Keith offered before they started down the passage back outside, Shiro's feet dragging along behind them. Pidge and Hunk were just outside the dome, keeping watch.

"Oh man," Hunk groaned as he peered through the binoculars, catching sight of the Garrison coming back towards the dome. "They're coming back and they do not look happy," the largest of the teens informed as Lance and Keith pulled Shiro towards the hoverbike.

"We should get moving," Pidge said. Hunk nodded and the two ran over towards the hoverbike. Pidge was quick to clamor onto the red machine.

"Can we catch a ride with you?" Hunk asked Keith before running around to climb onto the back of the hoverbike. Pidge moved to help pull Shiro over the middle and Lance got onto the side where one of the hovering mechanisms was attached to the body. Once Hunk clamored on, the bike shifted from the sudden weight to the back. Keith rolled his eyes as he swung a leg over the middle behind the controls.

"Is this thing gonna be big enough for all of us?" Pidge asked.

"No-" Keith started, only to have the bright lights from the Garrison rovers shine right in their eyes, cutting off any other words. Keith cranked the power of the hoverbike to its maximum, allowing the group to leave the ground. The bike turned and began flying over the desert, kicking up sand in its wake.

Lance leaned Shiro on Pidge as he got himself secured on the edge of the hoverbike's wing.

"Why am I holding this guy?!" Pidge demanded.

"Hey we did all fit," Hunk declared.

The Garrison rovers, however continued their pursuit and Keith grit his teeth as they continued coming closer to the bike.

"Can't this thing go any faster?" Lance called.

"Sure, if we toss out some non-essential weight!" Keith snapped at the other pilot.

"Oh right!" Lance looked around quickly for anything to throw off. There were the three backpacks he, Hunk and Pidge had, but aside from that there was nothing but people. "Okay so that was an insult, I get it."

"Big man, lean left!" Keith hollered over his shoulder. Hunk did as told and the bike turned the way Keith directed. The rovers were so caught up in their pursuit that half of them collided into each other trying to follow the hoverbike's exact movements. Hunk grimaced at the sound.

"Oh man! Mr. Harris just wiped out Professor Montgomery!" he reported, looking back at the rovers, only to see people leaving the vehicles intact, if a little shaken. "Oh no, they're fine."

"Big man, lean right!" Keith ordered. Hunk did as told and the three conscious passengers let out screams of terror as the bike shot over a small gorge and landed on the other side. Only half the remaining rover drivers braved the jump, meaning a quarter of the original number continued to chase them.

Keith let out another snarl of annoyance. He certainly couldn't go home with the Garrison on his tail. He had one more trick to get rid of them for good, although he doubted his conscious passengers would appreciate it.

"Guys…is-is that a cliff up ahead?" Hunk stammered, Pidge and Lance began voicing loud objections as Keith leaned over the handlebars of the bike and revved the bike to go any bit faster. The bike launched off the edge of the cliff and all three conscious passengers began to scream.

"What are you doing?! You're gonna kill us all!" Lance shrieked as he clung to the edge of the wing.

"Shut up and trust me!" Keith barked, waiting for the right second. At the last possible second, the bike lifted away from any crash and continued flying over the desert.

"Holy shit!" Pidge cried before all but shoving Shiro onto Lance and moving towards Keith.

"Hey! Careful with Shiro!" the black-haired teen barked as he slowed the bike to a stop. Pidge grabbed Keith and yanked him so they were face-to-face with each other.

"Never pull that shit again!" Keith knocked the smaller hands away.

"I'll do what I have to in order to get the job done. Look at the bright side, no more Garrison chasing us."

"He's got a point there," Hunk agreed as he and Lance got Shiro situated on the hoverbike again.

"So where're we heading now?" Lance asked.

"What makes you think you guys are coming along at all?" Keith asked. "If anything, you made it harder to get away from the Garrison. And if anything, coming along with me could get you all expelled from the Garrison, if not arrested as accomplices for what I just did."

"We're already involved, aren't we?" Hunk asked. "Plus, you'd need help keeping Shiro steady on this thing."

"Plus, we know about what Shiro says we need to look for, something called Voltron," Pidge informed. Keith let out a sigh and turned back to the handlebars.

"Keeping Shiro steady is your guys' job. As for where we're going, we're heading back to my place. My sister and I have stuff ready for this."

"How could you have stuff ready for this?" Lance asked.

"I'll explain later. Hold on." With that, Keith kicked the hoverbike into motion again.

*The Legend Begins*

Keith pulled up to the house and immediately he was beginning to pull Shiro over his shoulders again. The door opened and the small pack of dogs hurried outside, barking to alert their owners of the new arrivals. Keera hurried out of the house and pulled Shiro's prosthetic arm over her shoulders, giving the new limb a wide-eyed look. Keith waited a moment for the woman to absorb the information before she turned her attention to him.

"Let's get him upstairs," she said firmly. "As for your new friends, they can stay in the kitchen until we come back down."

Hunk opened the door for them as they entered the house and took Shiro upstairs to a bedroom, although getting him over the baby gate required some further help from Hunk so the puppies wouldn't follow them and disturb the sleeping man. The man let out a groan as he was laid on the bed. Almost immediately, Keera could see some tension leave the man's shoulders. After a moment, Keith slipped an arm under the older man's shoulders and sat him up to begin removing the skin-tight body suit he was dressed in.

Keera took hold of Shiro's shoulders so Keith could begin pulling on the zipper in the back, which practically refused to move and when it did, tiny flakes of dark crust fell onto the bedspread. Not to mention the smell of body odor was strong as the zipper finally made it to the middle of Shiro's back.

Keith froze immediately as the material fell away, revealing a number of scars in various states of healing. His entire back was scored by scars that looked to be from claws, exit wounds spider-webbed together and there were some scars far, far too clean to have come from the same place as the others.

Keith pulled the zipper back up and Keera looked at Shiro's wrist. A little ways under the joint, thick bands of scarred tissue marred his arm. Wherever Shiro had been, he'd definitely been fighting against some form of bonds.

The dark-haired male pressed his lips into a line as the other pulled the sleeves back up and simply pulled the blankets over the man before leaving the room.

Keera placed a hand on Keith's shoulder as he leaned against the doorframe.

"He's safe now. He's gonna be alright," she said softly.

"I know." The dark-haired female pressed her lips into a line before pulling her hand away.

"I'll be going downstairs to see about getting breakfast started." With that, she headed down the stairs to the kitchen.

Keith sat down outside the door and pressed his forehead into his knees as his fingers dug into the weave of his jeans. His teeth ground together as he drew in deep, long breaths through his nose before blowing them out his mouth.

After a few moments of careful breathing, Keith pushed himself back up and went back to the kitchen.

*The Legend Begins*

As the siblings took Shiro upstairs, the cadets sat themselves at the table in the kitchen. Hunk was drumming his fingers on the tabletop when Keera came back down the stairs and gave the trio a considering look with her hands on her hips.

"Anyone hungry?" she asked. Hunk's hand shot into the air. Lance and Pidge shrugged and the dark-haired woman nodded. "Okay then. Anyone wants to eat, you're gonna help with the chores."

"What chores?" Pidge asked as Keera went to a cupboard and pulled out two pails, two baskets and a box of wipes.

"We gotta get the eggs, milk the goats, and feed the animals," the woman explained as Hunk came over and took a basket. Keith made his way down the stairs at that moment, walked past the table without a word and grabbed a pail before heading out the door, the male Shepherd following him.

"Where are the animals kept?" Hunk asked.

"We have two semi-trailers outside. One is hooked up to the house to monitor the aquaponics system. The other is where the animals are housed. Keith's gonna let out the chickens and all them and you just need to check the carriers for eggs," Keera explained before setting the other pail and basket on the tabletop in front of Pidge and Lance. "I'll be in here, getting the rest of breakfast together." Lance grabbed the pail and box of wipes before heading out, leaving Pidge to groan as the smallest teen grabbed the remaining basket and followed Hunk outside.

Keera began getting ingredients from the cupboards and refrigerator, mixing various amounts into a number of different bowls before the creaking of overhead floorboards drew her attention away from her work.

The dark-haired teenager finished mixing everything, put the ingredients away and headed up the stairs. After a few seconds of standing out the door, she knocked on it.

"Who is it?"

"Shiro, it's Keera." She smiled slightly at the sound of scrambling feet just before the door was yanked open and she found herself yanked into the massive pair of arms and smelly chest of the scarred man, who let out a chuckle of a sob as he held her close. The dark-haired woman wrapped her arms around the man gently before pulling away.

"Where's your brother?"

"He's outside, dealing with the animals and a couple Garrison cadets. But let's focus on you right now. From my non-professional opinion, you need at least a good, good shower, a change of clothes and a hot meal. What do you think?" Shiro nodded, a slight smile on his face.

"I think that sounds great."

"Will you need any help?" she asked.

"If I do, I can call for you."

"Alright. If you want to head into the bathroom, I can get some clothes set out," Keera offered. Shiro smiled and pulled her in for another hug before heading to the bathroom. Keera waited until she heard the spray of water before she went into the room, opened the closet, pulled out a box and pulled a few dark garments from the selection inside, placing them neatly on the bed. After the box was put back in its place, Keera sat herself on the bed and folded her fingers together before pressing her lips against them.

It took the better part of an hour for Shiro to return to the bedroom. Keera kept her gaze averted as he began to dress.

"Is there something we need to talk about?" Shiro asked as he pulled his arms through the sleeves.

"I thought you should know that Keith and I already saw some of the scars on your back. We decided that we would let you determine how we…go from here, as far as what happens. I don't know how to really say it. I can tell you've been through some shit in the last year since you went missing-"

"It's been a year since we were captured?"

"Give or take a few weeks," the raven-haired woman responded. "Getting back to what I was saying, Keith and I are here if you need to talk to us, even though we're fully aware that there's no way we can really understand what you're going through. And before you jump into that big, macho routine of 'I don't want pity' or any of that bullshit, know that Keith didn't pity you. If anything, he was furious that it happened."

"I appreciate that Keera, thank you. I'll keep the talking bit in mind. Certainly can't hurt to try getting some help when I can," Shiro stated as he finished pulling on the pants. "I'm decent." Keera turned around and offered a smile.

"Do you want to come downstairs and help me cook or do you want some time to yourself?"

"I think I'll take a bit of a walk. Is it alright if I ask you to tell your brother he can join me when he's done with what he's doing?"

"Just don't go anywhere near the Garrison," Keera stated as she went back downstairs.

"Not in the near future," Shiro muttered as he followed her down the steps. Rather than follow her to the kitchen, he went out the front door. Keera listened to the door shut as she went back about her business. Literal seconds later, Keith and the cadets came back into the house, baskets full of eggs and pails full of goat's milk.

"Any problems?" Keera asked as she pulled out the supplies to filter the milk and clean the eggs.

"Not really," Keith reported. "You?"

"Shiro woke up and we didn't have any incidents. But he went to take a walk outside. Keith, he also said that if you want to talk to him, he's good with talking to you." Keith nodded before following Shiro out the front door.

Keith stood on the porch and looked around. Shiro was standing nearer to the edge of the property, looking over his new right arm. Keith made sure to kick at some rocks as he made his way over to the older man. Keith placed one hand on Shiro's shoulder, drawing the man's attention from his arm to his friend and they both offered a smile to the other.

"It's good to have you back," the younger greeted.

"It's good to be back."

"So what happened out there?" Keith asked, pulling his hand back slowly. "Where were you?"

"I wish I could tell you," Shiro sighed. "My head's still pretty scrambled." Then the larger of the two turned towards the other. "How did you know to come save me when I crashed anyway?" Keith looked back towards the house.

"You should come see this," he stated simply before walking back inside with Shiro beside him.  

*The Legend Begins*

Keith pulled down the sheet from the wall, revealing a map covered in colored pins and connecting colored strings. Correlating pictures and notes were stuck near their subject or were connected with a string to the center of the map. There the words "Energy Source" were circled numerous times.

"What have you been working on?" Shiro asked as he looked over a cluster of nearby notes. Keith cast a cautious glance towards his sister. Her eyes closed and she took a breath before turning towards Shiro.

"After you left on the mission, I started having these…dreams or visions or something. But the thing is that what happened in the dreams, happened in real life. Timing, weather, location, stuff that normally I shouldn't know, I knew. The biggest confirmation that these were really happening was the announcement that your mission was missing and you and the Holts were presumed dead," she explained.

"After that, she had dreams of the crash from last night. We had no idea it was you we'd be saving, only that the person there would need our help. However, she did have dreams that involved you so we knew you were still alive and that the Garrison was covering up what really happened. We went to our uncle with this and he directed us to come here and see if we could sort out everything ourselves. When we arrived we both started sensing this weird energy telling us to search," Keith finished. Shiro's brows pinched together slightly in confusion.

"For what?"

"We had no idea and my dreams were providing nothing," Keera stated.

"That is until we came across here," Keith continued, pointing at the center of the map and the words he'd circled. "There's a gorge here that has these carvings of a giant mountain cat that appear to be indigenous in nature. But the big thing is, Keera can't figure out what exactly it's saying."

"You can't?" Shiro asked, turning to the young woman.

"Yea. I mean, the pictures allow for some basic understanding but as far as what's being stated in words, there's nothing in historical records of indigenous people in this area that use a language like this. And no linguistic professional I've reached out to has any idea what this language is or what's being said."

"There's also nothing in historical records even close to this. No other indigenous people talk about some giant mountain cat deity of water from the stars," Keith reported.

"What about your uncle?" Shiro asked, turning back to the map.

"He's got no clue and no idea where this could come from. But we've run our own tests and these carvings are real and really, really old," Keera stated.

"What have you been able to decipher from the pictures?" Shiro asked. Keera pulled a journal from the shelf and handed it over. The man opened it and began looking through the pictures drawn in the pages.

"From what I can see, these people claimed this cat deity saved them from some form of demon people. The deity had some form of power over water and brought rain and good soil to the desert for crops. These pictures of the deity and the demon people appear numerous times. The best I can figure is that this cave tells the mythos of this deity and these demon people and stories of their battles."

"So if I'm understanding all this right, Keera started having prophetic dreams which lead you to know that the Garrison was lying about the Kerberos mission, and when you went to your uncle about it, he directed you out here where you found your way to this cave with the cat deity? "

"That's exactly it," Keera affirmed. Shiro nodded as he handed back the journal and turned to the cadets.

"I suppose I should thank you for helping me out of there. Lance, right?" Shiro extended a hand towards the lanky teen. Centimeters from taking his hero's hand, Lance's eyes fell on the metal appendage and widened slightly upon the sight. Shiro began to pull his hand back slightly but Lance quickly grabbed it and gave it a firm shake as a warm, accepting smile spread over his face. Relief shone in Shiro's eyes as he moved to shake hands with Hunk, who said nothing.

"The nervous guy's Hunk and I'm Pidge," the brunette spoke up as the two shook hands. "So…did anyone from your crew make it out?" Shiro's smile faded and his shoulders dropped slightly.

"I'm afraid I don't really remember. I remember the mission and being captured. After that, it's only…bits and pieces at best. However, I do know that they were mentioning Voltron. It's some kind of superweapon they're looking for. Whatever it is, I think we need to find it before they do."

"And how are we gonna do that? I've never even heard of a thing like Voltron," Keera asked as she stepped up to the table.

"Well, I might have a way," Hunk spoke up at last as he pulled up a backpack. "See, last night I was rummaging through Pidge's stuff." He pulled out a picture of what appeared to be Pidge standing beside a young woman in a purple dress with long, brown hair in front of the Garrison. "Look it's his girlfriend."

"Hey gimme that!" Pidge yelled as the shorter snatched the picture away and stuffed it in the nearest pocket. "What were you doing in my stuff?" Hunk handed over the backpack with an apologetic look.

"Well, I was looking for something to eat. But then I started looking around in his notes," Hunk added, producing said notebook from his pocket and earning another squeaky cry from Pidge before the notebook was snatched away as well. "And I noticed that the repeating series of numbers the extraterrestrials use looks a lot like a Fraunhofer line."

"Fraun…who?" Keith asked, turning to his sister.

"Joseph van Fraunhofer was a glassmaker in Germany born 1787 and died 1826," she supplied. "I have heard he influenced science somehow but…it goes over my head."

"A Fraunhofer line is a number describing the emissions spectrum of an element," Hunk supplied. "Except I haven't seen this element in my studies of Earth elements. So I thought it might be this Voltron. And I think I can make something to track it down like a Voltron Geiger counter."

"Hunk, you big gassy genius!" Lance cheered.

"It's pretty fascinating really. The wavelength looks like this," Hunk said, pulling a quickly-sketched graph from his pocket.

"Can I see that right quick?" Keera asked as she held out her hand. The larger teen handed over the page and Keera yanked another notebook from the shelf. She flipped to a page and held it up to Keith, showing that the graph Hunk had drawn matched one that was sketched in the notebook.

"What's that?" Hunk asked, pointing at the notebook.

"I write down what I dream and then draw it. I don't know exactly what this means, but Keith, I think these guys should come with us to the caves. Maybe they can find something we didn't."

"I'm alright with it. But are they?" Keith asked, turning towards the cadets.

"What do you mean?" Pidge asked.

"Do you guys need us to take you back to the Garrison for anything you'll need? We've already broken Shiro out of custody and if there were cameras in there, it's likely you three could've been seen aiding us," Keera pointed out. "It's grounds for prison at the very least."

"Hey, we packed for a few days of team bonding," Lance stated, holding up his backpack. "I think we'll be fine."

"What about the Voltron Geiger counter?" Shiro asked, turning towards Hunk.

"Keith and I have a normal Geiger counter in the truck," Keera offered.

"Got some wires and spare parts?" Hunk asked.

"If they don't I do," Pidge said, holding up the previously snatched backpack.

"I'll get the tools and spare parts we've got," Keith said as he headed out the door.

*The Legend Begins*

“Okay, I’ll admit, this feels super creepy,” Lance sighed as the group got out of the truck.

“I’m getting a reading,” Hunk reported as he began moving with the Geiger counter towards an incline. Keera put her arm out and stopped him from going too far.

“Maybe let someone who has been here before guide so that we don’t walk into…a rattlesnake or a cactus or…a hole?”

“Oh, sure,” the larger teen said with a shrug. Keera began making her way down the incline with Shiro behind her, Hunk following with Lance, Pidge and Keith bringing up the rear. It took a few minutes of walking for the group to reach the cave. Everyone ducked inside and began looking around.

“These are those carvings you two have been studying?” Shiro asked as he traced some of the images with a finger.

“Yea. But again, nothing similar to this in anything I’ve ever studied,” Keera stated. Lance reached up and brushed a hand over a carving. Immediately, all the glyphs began to glow a soft blue color. Everyone stepped away from the walls and into a group on the middle of the cave and Keith drew his knife as he pulled his sister close to him.

“They’ve never done that before,” Keith reported. Keera whirled around to glare at Lance.

“What did you TOUCH?!” she demanded. Almost immediately, the floor gave out underneath the group. Everyone screamed as they dropped into rushing water, shot around the inside of the cavern and were eventually dropped into a small pool of water that was barely deep enough to cover the ankles.

It took a couple seconds for everyone to self-assess for injury and start getting up and out of the water. Lance was the first one to look straight up and his jaw drop.

Before him was a massive, massive blue robot in the shape of a cat with red and silver accents. Around the massive creature was a blue sphere made of hexagons. Around the outside of the sphere was a ring carved in the stone floor and some stones shaped like softly curved cones roughly Shiro’s height at least.

“They are everywhere,” Lance muttered as he stepped out of the water.

“Is this it? Is this the Voltron?” Pidge asked.

“It…must be,” Shiro said with a slight shrug.

“This is what’s causing all this crazy energy out here,” Keera stated as she stepped out of the pool and towards the creature.

“Hey, where you going?” Lance asked, grabbing her hand, causing her to whirl around and glare at his hand on hers.

“Let go of me right the fuck now,” she warned, pulling her hand out of his grip. “And what I’m gonna do is see what the fuck this thing is. If this is the Voltron that these extraterrestrials are looking for, I say we figure out what makes this thing so damned special.” With that, the raven-haired woman turned away from the group and began investigating the ring around it.

“Looks like there’s a force field around it,” Keith reported. “I would feel better if you didn’t touch that until we know what it does, please.”

“I won’t touch,” Keera assured as she pulled out her notebook and began drawing the carvings into the pages. Keith pulled a few things from his backpack out and tossed them at the force field. The sphere did nothing more than make a slight noise. After finishing those tests, Keith quickly rapped the shield with his knuckles before pressing his palms against it.

“How do we get through this?” he wondered aloud. Keera shrugged with a grunt.

“Maybe you just gotta knock?” Lance asked as he sauntered up next to the twins.

“Maybe  _ you  _ should touch nothing,” Keera stated before the taller male knocked on the shield.

Immediately, the shield went down and the carvings in the ground came alive with blue light.

Everyone let out simultaneous gasps as the image of a blazing sword appeared before their eyes, held in the hand of a figure that they could only see after an instant. Each limb was a different color and had the head of a Lion at the appendages with a black Lion’s head appearing much like a helmet on the robotic figure.

_ “We are the Lions of Voltron,”  _ said a soft voice that sounded as if it was coming from  _ inside  _ the head.

The second the vision disappeared, Keera fell over into the dirt, quickly righting herself as she rubbed at her now throbbing temples.

“Did everyone just see that?” Lance asked.

“Voltron is a robot!” Hunk declared, drawing Keera’s attention back to the group. “Voltron is a huge,  _ huge  _ awesome robot!”

“And this thing is only one part of it!” Pidge supplied.

“Wait, you all saw that too?!” she asked.

"I think we must've," Shiro supplied. "Why?"

"Because that image is exactly how my dreams have been ending since you left for Kerberos!"

“This is definitely what they’re looking for,” Shiro informed.

“And I can see why,” Keith stated.

The Lion crouched and opened its mouth to the ground. A small, black section that would've been the Lion's tongue dipped into the dirt making a ramp into the ship. Right in the middle inside was a sleek white chair with a pale-blue center of the back and black covering the outer edge. With a small, whirring noise, the seat moved itself right to the edge of the ramp as if the Lion was offering someone to take a seat.

Lance smirked before seating himself in the chair.

"What are you doing?" Keera asked as the teenager reclined slightly in the chair, crossing an ankle over his opposite knee and placing his hands behind his head.

"Enjoying myself. This is a seriously nice seat. Nothing like those stiff and dusty old chairs at the Garrison." No sooner had the teen finished his sentence than the seat began pulling itself back into the Lion's mouth. "Whoa!" Lance cried in surprise as he moved to get up, only to find that he couldn't remove himself from the seat.

"Lance!" Keera launched herself forward and grabbed Lance's hand, trying to pull him out of the chair, only to find that she couldn't. The ramp under her feet gave a little flick of movement, sending her flying into Lance's lap.

"Keera!" Keith yelled as he and the group took off after the two being pulled into the Lion's mouth. Once the group was inside, the mouth shut. The inside of the mouth had one tunnel at the very back that it pulled Keera and Lance into with Keith quick to follow his sister.

"Come on you two, we need to stick together," Shiro said to Pidge and Hunk as he ducked slightly to follow Keith.

"You heard the man," Pidge said as she trotted after. Hunk let out a groan and followed, albeit at a slower pace.

Lance pulled Keera close as the seat lurched to one side at the end of the tunnel and quickly deposited them just outside a pair of metal double doors that slid open before them. Once the doors were open, the chair slipped into a cockpit and stopped in such a way that both of Lance's feet ended up on pedals at the very front and right within reach were two controls that looked like some form of bicycle handles complete with brakes within finger's reach. Lance turned his attention from the lighting-up cockpit to the woman in his lap.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine. But what was that?" Keera asked as she looked Lance's torso over. She reached to grab his jacket, only to be stopped mere centimeters from it. Lance pushed against the seat and in the pale light of the cockpit, Keera could see some form of webbing had wrapped around Lance's torso almost like a seatbelt.

"Looks like I'm stuck."

"Yea. Maybe it's some kinda automatic seatbelt?" Keera said inquisitively as the rest of the group made their way into the room and the doors slid shut behind them. "Hey Keith, Shiro, you guys ever seen anything like this?" The others crowded around the seat, pinching and tugging at the material.

"No, never," Shiro stated before turning to Keith. "Think you could try cutting him out?"

"I can try," Keith said with a shrug as he unsheathed the blade. Lance let out a nervous noise as Keith tugged some of the material away from his body and tried cutting it with the knife, only for the blade to slip out as if passing through air. "The heck?" The teen tried again, only to have the same results.

"Fascinating," Shiro breathed.

"So what? We just wait until this thing decides he can leave or we figure out what it wants?" Keera asked. "I'm fairly sure that's called taking a hostage."

"Maybe these have something to do with it?" Lance asked as he took hold of the handlebars in front of him and jiggled them a little.

"Don't touch anything," Keera hissed before turning to the others. "Doesn't the Garrison cover this kind of thing? Don't touch shit when you don't know shit about it?"

"Yea, it's kinda implied," Pidge pointed out as a finger pushed the glasses perched on the teen's nose up to their proper place.

"Then where was this joker when that lesson was covered?" The entire group let out a cry of alarm as a massive, massive roar shook the cockpit and the cave, making loose stones fall from the ceiling. "What the hell?!" Keera cried as Keith pulled his sister into his chest. Shiro placed his hands on the seat so his arms encircled the siblings as he looked past Lance at the monitors displaying the cave.

"What was that?" the eldest of the group asked. Lance turned to try giving a response, only to freeze as a sensation similar to suddenly dropping out of the air came to life in his stomach. He could still feel the seat and floor securely around his person but the sensation was still there in his stomach. Comforting warmth filled his chest and he could've sworn he felt something like fur brush against his cheek.

_ "Fly,"  _ whispered a soft voice in his ear.

"You guys heard that too?" Lance asked, looking around at the others.

"That roar? Yea, we heard that," Pidge stated.

"No…not that…what came after," the taller of the brunettes said.

"What do you mean?" Keera asked. Lance jiggled the controls again and the entire group watched as the vision on the screen moved upwards and then back down, just like taking a step towards the wall of the cave.

"Oh no…" Hunk muttered.

"Lance," Pidge and Keera said in warning tones. Keith turned sharply to look at Hunk with wide eyes. The paler of the two was about to ask why the other sounded so nervous when Lance pushed both controls forward. Pidge, Keera and Hunk all let out cries of alarm as the Lion launched itself at the wall, breaking through tons upon tons of rock as if it were little more than a sheet of paper.

The Lion twisted as it launched into the sky, doing figure-8s in the air before landing in the desert and running around. Shiro and Keith could almost barely brace themselves enough to remain upright as the Lion flipped itself over backwards a couple times.

Lance was leaning forward in the seat, beaming as the landscape shot past on the screen.

"Isn't this awesome?!" he cried, turning to the others.

"Make it stop! Make it stop!" Hunk begged, beginning to turn a little green in the face. Keith took a step closer to Shiro and Keera.

"I'm not making it do anything! It's like it's on autopilot!" Lance cheered as he took his hands off the controls to show his point.

"Are you shitting me?!" Keith barked as he reached forward to grab at the nearest control. Right at that moment, the Lion leapt into the air and blasted off towards the sky. The force caused Pidge and Hunk to cling to the little wall in front of Lance. Keera's fingers dug into the seat and Keith, who had little balance in his position, went flying back, knocking Shiro's arm off the seat and sending both of them back against the door of the cockpit.

"You guys okay?!" Keera cried.

"We're fine," Shiro assured.

"Where are you going?!" Keith demanded the blue-eyed teen in the pilot's seat.

"I  _ just  _ said it's on autopilot!" Lance called over his shoulder. "It's saying there's an alien ship approaching Earth. I think we need to stop it." Keera let out a snarl before reaching forward and pinching Lance's ear with her fingernail. The teen let out a squeak as he was pulled back against the seat.

"What did it say exactly?!" the dark-haired woman barked.

"It's not really saying words! More just putting ideas in my head!" Lance squeaked out rapidly. Keera let go of the ear as she thought over the words.

"Wait a second! You're telling me this thing is sentient?!" she screeched.

"I think so?" Lance said, rubbing at the part of his pinna Keera had pinched, leaving behind a bright red crescent in the skin.

"But it's a machine, there's no way-" Pidge started before the Lion let out a growl that shook the entire cabin.

"I think there is a way," Keera stated as she eyed the ceiling and Shiro and Keith made their way back up to the group from the door.

"Well if this thing the weapon they're looking for, why don't we just…give it to them?" the queasy teen suggested. "Maybe then they'll leave us alone. Sorry, lion, nothing personal."

"You don't understand, these monsters spread like a plague through the galaxy, destroying everything in their path. There's no bargaining with them and they're not stopping until everything is dead," Shiro stated, causing the other cadets and the twins to give expectant looks to Hunk, who looked rather floored by the reveal.

"Oh. Never mind then." Keera nodded as the Lion exited Earth's atmosphere.

"Yea, don't give nukes to Nazis and don't give the Voltron Lion to crazy galaxy-destroying aliens."

Almost immediately after the woman's words, a massive purple ship appeared from the depths of space, thousands of windows alight with pink-hued light. Everyone's jaws dropped at the sight, although Shiro's hand tightened minutely on the pilot's seat.

"Holy crow is that really an alien ship?!" Hunk squeaked.

"I think it is," Keera affirmed as the Lion shot past the ship and turned so that the passengers could see the full length from the side.

"They found me," Shiro growled under his breath, earning him concerned looks from the twins. The side of the warship opened fire with dozens of lasers, just missing the Lion as the mechanical being began to dodge the plasma shots.

"We gotta get it outta here!" Pidge yelled.

"Hang on!" Lance pulled the controls back, shoving everyone either up against the little wall or against the seat with a chorus of groans. Lance let out little yelps as he tried to avoid laser shots on his own. "Okay I think I know what to do now!"

"Be careful man, this isn't a simulator!" Pidge reminded. Lance let out a chuckle.

"Well that's good. I always wrecked the simulator." Keera's eyes widened.

"WHAT?! No! No! Shiro, please get in the seat! Let's have the professional handle this!" she yelled as Lance charged towards the ship, zig-zagging through lines of laser fire. The teen slammed one hand forward on the controls and the whole group felt the Lion's head drop before shooting back up. Keera looked out the monitors and her eyes widened as the Lion shot its own laser from its mouth and carved into the side of the ship.

"Let's try this," Lance smirked as he pulled back both controls. The Lion breezed past laser shots and buried its claws in the side of the hull, pulling the metal up as it shot past the ship.

"Nice job Lance!" Shiro chuckled, placing his hand on the pilot's shoulder as Hunk and Pidge let out whoops of celebration. Keera's eyes were wide as Lance directed the Lion away from the ship.

"Okay, I think it's time to get these guys away from our planet," the teen stated.

"How exactly are we gonna do that? Tow the ship?" Keera asked. A light beeping and flashing light nearby brought their attention to a screen just to the side of the monitors. The image of the ship turning away from Earth and following the Lion appeared on the screen.

"Looks like they're gonna follow us anyway," Keith stated.

"Oh no!" Hunk cried, jumping back somewhat.

"I think they're gaining on us!" Pidge added.

"It's weird. They're not trying to shoot at us, they're just chasing."

"Which means they intend to capture," Keera stated.

"Okay so now we think having aliens chasing after us is a good thing?!" Hunk cried, "I'm not on board with this new direction guys!"

"Where even are we?" Keith asked. Shiro glanced out the monitors and his eyes widened at the sight of the pale moon they were passing.

"The edge of the solar system. That there is Kerberos."

"It takes months for our ships to get out this far! We got out here in like…five seconds!" Pidge exclaimed just before a glowing circle of blue, violet, black and white appeared right in front of them.

"What is that?!" Hunk cried.

"Uh…this may seem crazy but I think the Lion wants us to go through that!" Lance stated, looking around at the others in the cockpit.

"Where does it go?" Pidge asked, worrying on a lip.

"I- I dunno. Shiro, you're the senior officer here. What should we do?" Lance asked.

"Whatever's going on, it seems the Lion knows more than we do. So I say we trust it. But we're a team now. We should decide together." Everyone exchanged glances and nods before turning towards Lance. The teen sighed.

"Okay, guess we're all skipping class tomorrow," he said before pushing the controls forward again, sending them through the opening in space. Keera watched the monitor as the hole closed behind them, leaving the ship and home far, far away.

**Author's Note:**

> And that's all for now. I promise more is in the works right now but at the moment, this is all I have. More to come so please let me know your thoughts in comments, kudos and bookmarks! See ya!


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